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UDB eyes wider reach with plan to open five new branches 

Ms Patricia Ojangole

By  MARTIN LUTHER OKETCH

What you need to know:

  • UDB, which was established in 1972, currently operates a single branch in Kampala

Uganda Development Bank (UDB) has finalised a plan in which it will open five new branches in the countryside. 

The move is part of the wider plan, through which, the development financing bank is seeking to bring services closer to the people. 

UDB, which was established in 1972, has grown in terms of assets and loan book, operating through a single branch in Kampala.

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However, while launching the 2023, Uganda Development Impact report at the weekend, Ms Patricia Ojangole, the UBD managing director, said they will be opening five new branches beginning this year in the cities of Arua, Gulu, Mbale Mbarara, and Hoima. 

Through the new branches, the bank says, it will continue to support small and medium enterprises and large-scale projects in infrastructure, industrialisation, primary agriculture, fisheries, and livestock, agro-processing, and natural resources extraction, among others.

Ms Ojangole said UDB has been instrumental in supporting Uganda’s growth, creating at least 51,841 jobs, and a total output value of Shss5.8 trillion in 2023, in addition to contributing an output value of Shs236.1b in tax revenue, and foreign exchange earnings of Shs953b.

The report underscores UDB’s sustainable impact of strategic investment and intervention, with the target of boosting economic growth and job creation, while at the same time contributing to growth of taxable revenues. 

During 2023, UDB’s enterprise funding saw 51,841 jobs created, of which, 13,727 were by women with the shareholding of women-led businesses increasing to 39 percent from 27 percent due to a deliberate plan that seeks to enhance women’s inclusion through tailored products. 

Ms Ojangole told Monitor that manufacturing and agro-processing continue to be the largest job creation sectors, while at the same time, project funding has driven private sector profitability to more than Shs869b. 

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